What to do in a medical emergency
Sehlam Home Care is not an emergency service, and our website and forms are not monitored around the clock. If someone needs urgent medical help, contact emergency services first.
Call emergency services
Call 112 for emergency services in Ghana. You can also call 193 for the National Ambulance Service. If it's quicker and safe to do so, take the person to the nearest hospital emergency department.
Tell the call handler where you are as precisely as you can, including landmarks, and what has happened. Stay with the person if it's safe.
Signs that are an emergency
Call for emergency help if someone:
- is unconscious, or can't be woken;
- has difficulty breathing, or is choking;
- has chest pain, or pain spreading to the arm, neck or jaw;
- shows signs of a stroke: the face drooping on one side, weakness in an arm, or slurred or confused speech;
- is bleeding heavily, or has a serious injury after a fall;
- has a seizure (fit) that doesn't stop, or a first seizure;
- becomes suddenly very confused, drowsy or unwell;
- may have taken too much of a medicine, or swallowed something harmful.
This list isn't complete. If you're worried that someone's life may be at risk, call.
If you're arranging care from abroad
If you're outside Ghana and hear that a relative is seriously unwell, the quickest help usually comes from someone near them calling 112, or taking them to hospital. Keep the phone numbers of a neighbour or relative near your family member, so someone local can act quickly.
What happens if there's an emergency during a care visit
If a Sehlam caregiver or nurse finds someone seriously unwell, their first step is to call emergency services. They then contact the family member named in the care plan. Each person's care plan records who to contact and in what order.
Contacting Sehlam
For anything that isn't an emergency, use our contact page or request a call back. We'll reply as soon as we can, but please don't use our forms or email for urgent medical problems.